This Scarf Flies Business Class

The hubs is back from Hong Kong. And he brought me this scarf, along with a few other goodies. Including culottes. Yes, culottes. They're actually like pajama culottes. He knows how much I love putting on pajama pants as soon as I get home from work. He calls then my "fat pants."

 Gap top and socks, Old Navy skirt, Madden boots, gifted scarf, F21 earrings

So today on the way to work I was walking behind this woman wearing some really cute oxfords with a ballet flat twist. I was tempted to ask her where she got them from, but then I saw tissues or some kind of bandage on her heels. Like she needed them because the shoes are so uncomfortable.

No, sir.

Comfort's a huge deal to me when it comes to my shoes. Not only because I do a lot of walking in the city, but also because, since I started distance running, my feet have been super sensitive. So now I have to find cute yet comfortable shows.

On that same note, the hubs and I were walking around downtown this evening and I stopped so I could drop into the Aeorosoles store. The husband was quick to say to me, "Do you see the average age of the people in this store?" implying that Aerosoles are for old ladies. He might be right. But this lady needs comfortable shoes and, goshdarnit, if I have to resort to old lady shoes, I will! (As long as they're cute.)

Needless to say, I didn't find anything. Maybe I'll check out Clarks this weekend.

I Did Not Wear This Hat to Work Today

But I wanted to wear it to take some photos.

Well, the husband returns from Hong Kong tomorrow. I'm not sure what time, but I"m pretty excited to have him back. Although I will say that I've enjoyed having the place to myself. 

It's Wednesday--pretty much Thursday since it's nearly midnight here. What does that mean? Well, not much except that the weekend's coming up. Yay, weekend!

Today I unexpectedly got to attend a convention for work, ad:tech. There were some useful booths, but mainly we went for the swag. Like back massagers, key ring flashlights, and squishy frogs. Hubs says he's bringing back surprises for me from Hong Kong. So I got him some surprises from ad:tech. I'm sure my surprises will compare with his. :)

 Gap top, cords, and top, Madden boots, Urban hat, F21 ring

Final Sale

Today was packed at work. It felt like I sat down at 9am and didn't look up from my computer till 6:30pm. And I was productive! Churning out content like it's my j--oh, right.

In other news, I bought this top from the Gap the other week. For like $10. Final sale. Maybe a bit of a risk, but I love the tab collar. (I don't know if that's what it's actually called. Anyone know?) Goes well with my new-found menswear inspired looks. Plus, the peachy orange hue is on trend for the Spring, right?

Remember the bootcamp I started? Well, it went swimmingly last week, and then I started experiencing scooter problems this week. The bootcamp is kind of far away from my apartment (too far to walk and too long to ride on the train at 6am), so when the scooter is out of commission, it's too much hassle to get there. But don't worry, I got an "at home" workout plan that my instructor sent me.

 Gap top, Banana Republic cardigan and shoes, gifted jeans, F21 bracelet, Guatemalan ring

But it does bring up a good point. I don't really like it when I have to travel just to get to my workouts. Ever since I started working out consistently, I always had a place to go that was convenient. While living with my folks I had a membership at an women's gym that was on my way home from work. In grad school I used the school gym. Now I either run right from my front steps or go to 24-Hour Fitness, just about a 5 block walk away from home.

This bootcamp is slightly inconvenient.

I'm not giving up, but I will have to wait until Reba (the scoot) is back up and running. Till then, guess I'll be getting up early tomorrow morning to do some at-home weight training!

Done With Tights

No outfit photos today. When I left the house I liked my outfit. By the end of the day, I didn't. Why's that? It's the tights.

I know tights are big in the style blog world. It seems like just about everyone has some We Love Colors legwear. Some of my favorite fashion bloggers sing the praises of tights and wear them often, like What I Wore Today, Love, Life, Lace, Blue Collar Catwalk, and lots more except I'm too sleepy to go seek out more posts with tights.

Well, I just can't do it anymore. I can't wear tights. The very name suggests discomfort, and my wardrobe is pretty much always about being comfortable. (Thank the Lord I get to dress casual at my new workplace!)

So I quit. I quit wearing tights. If you've been paying attention, you'd know that I've rarely worn them on this blog, so it won't be that much of a sacrifice. But unless someone can suggest some miracle tights to me, they're just not worth the trouble.

And that ends my no-tights manifesto. Very deep material tonight, folks.

Recipe: French Onion Soup & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Three words. French. Onion. Soup. Yeah, it's delicious. This was my first time making it. Yesterday I pulled up one of my favorite food blogs and this soup was the latest recipe. Now, she adds the gratinèe topping. I didn't bother with it because 1) I'm impatient and 2) I'm only cooking for one this week. And it still turned out delicious. And so aromatic. Yum. Try it for yourself!

French Onion Soup (adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:

5 cups thinly sliced yellow onions
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar (I know, weird right?!)
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
8 cups beef stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
Freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons brandy (optional)
Grated Parmesan cheese
Crumbled sourdough bread

Preparation:


Melt the butter and oil together in the bottom of a 4- to 5-quart saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onions, toss to coat them in oil and cover the pot. Reduce heat to low and the onions steep for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, uncover the onions and raise the heat slightly and stir in the salt and sugar. Cook the onions, stirring frequently, for 30 to 40 minutes until they have turned an even, deep golden brown.

After the onions are fully caramelized, sprinkle them with flour and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes. Add the wine in full, then stock, a little at a time, stirring in between. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer partially covered for 30 to 40 minutes, skimming if needed. Season more if needed. I didn't have to add any more salt. Stir in the brandy.

Top with grated Parmesan cheese and crumbled sourdough bread. Makes about eight servings. (Yeah, I have a LOT of leftovers.)


Roasted Brussels Sprouts


Ingredients:


1 lb. Brussels sproutsf
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt (I used garlic sea salt)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Preparation:

Preheat over to 325 degrees. Cut the tough bottoms off of the Brussels sprouts and slice the sprouts in half. Coat a rimmed baking pan with olive oil and add the sprouts to the pan, tossing them to coat with the oil. Sprinkle sprouts with salt and crushed red pepper.

Roast in oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until crispy.

Give It Up & Take It On... For Two Months!

Some of you might recall from my other blog the Give up/Take on Project. And you might have thought I forgot about it. But I haven't.

Last month, I gave up my old job and I took on a new one. And it's great. I'm loving it. Blogging everyday. For a living.

This month I'm giving up washing my hair everyday. Ok so I actually already only shampooed my hair about every other day. But now I'm going to try the trend and wash my hair even less. My first week, I noted that I shouldn't use product in my hair and then not wash it for several days. I'm still rinsing, but it doesn't get the product out.

So I'll be washing and then working without product until maybe the last day of my "no poo" project. And I won't go completely shampoo-less at first. But I think eventually the natural oils in my hair will sort of work themselves out, right?

What am I taking on this month? Well, that would be bootcamp. I started a fitness bootcamp this week and it's kicking my butt. MAN I am out of shape. Last October I was in great shape. Now, I'm feeling the sting of my lazy streak.

After bootcamp, I hope to start training for a marathon. Just need to figure out which one.

 Gifted top, Banana Republic cardigan, Old Navy jeggings and necklace, Madden boots

My friends and I started watching this series last night. It is great. I've never thought much about the lives of circus performers outside of the circus (when would I?), and following the story of the Big Apple Circus performers is really intriguing.

Also, the soundtrack is great. 

Ok I'm off to get ready for a French-themed Birthday party. Hope you're all having a lovely weekend!

Steal From Your Husband, Part Deux!

It's been a weird week. Tuesday night Chip left to fly to Hong Kong. Yesterday morning I locked myself out of the apartment--awesome, since my husband's gone. Then a car ran a stop sign and nearly ran into me while I was driving my scooter.

Also yesterday the power went out for a couple of hours at work and we just sat around and chatted and laughed. And then it came back on and we all went back to our computers. Just a weird week. Not a bad week. In fact, I've have a great week. Just... weird.

One thing about taking daily photos of my outfits: I notice when I need to change something up. Like yesterday. I wanted to wear husband's button-down denim shirt, but couldn't figure out how I wanted to style it. The scarf wasn't great. And just plain with the necklace needed some color.

And then I remembered this long vest. Perfect! I am really digging this look. And husband is planning on getting rid of this shirt. (It's in his "to sell" pile.) So I think I might steal it indefinitely.

 Martin & Osa top, Old Navy scarf, Gap jeans, Soda shoes, F21 necklace, gifted vest